THANK YOU, kindly, Mercedes. Now if only Dudester, and HRM could see the light of truth in my posts...

I shall not hold my breath.

If you have it NOTARIZED at the US Embassy there is no need for an Apostille. In my case it was an Argentine document (notarized by a local escribano) thus I needed the apostilla for it to be valid outside of Argentina. If you go directly to the embassy there is no international aspect, so no legalization required.

Yes, this is the point that I didn't make in my long message. The Apostille makes a locally-authorized document (escribano in Argentina, notary in US, or similarly for birth/marriage-type records signed by government officials) internationally recognized by those countries following the Hague convention.

At the US embassy, the notarization is "in the US" so to speak so needs nothing further if for use in the US.

"Hi, I need to notarize a Power of Attorney in favor of our lawyer in the US.

I went to the US consulate webpage, where they specify they do not notarize such documents. "

is there ANYTHING that the US embassy DOES do for its citizens, other than paying embassy personnel too much and setting them up in extravagant houses and apartments so that they can live in a complete bubble.

Sergio,

If you had read this entire thread, you'd see the steveinbsas correctly pointed out that the US Embassy specifically *does* notarize Power of Attorney. The embassy web page is a bit confusing. The original poster misread it. And I misread it as well.

That's not to dispute other parts of your post, which I can't specifically comment on...

I stand corrected regarding power of attorney. My comment about the embassy was based on experience. The friendliest ambassador was Mr. Cheek - back in the Menem days. Others seem to have set an arrogant tone. Some embassy staff seem to forget that they are working FOR US CITIZENS but instead they can be abrupt, rude and indifferent. I know that employees of most embassies live under very luxurious conditions compared with the local population (though I think the US State Dept. offers a lot more perks than most) but I find it hard to justify and I find the staff are out of touch with the reality of where they live. That's something I'd love to see Obama reform but I know he won't (instead he has tried to exceed the usual 30% of politically appointed ambassadors - paybacks for generous campaign contributions). Some of the other embassies do a little more in the way of promoting a positive image of their country and even extend an occasional invitation to their nationals. Entering the US consular section here can make a US citizen feel like an interloper. You see you have touched a sensitive spot with me - I could dedicate an entire thread to it.